Hoosier Litigation Blog

Today’s discussion looks at numerous recent cases ranging from the use of unsigned depositions at summary judgment, the possible need to provide details in support of damages calculations for actions sounding in breach of contract, whether Goodwin and Rogers apply to duty analyses beyond premises liability, the grounds for awarding class-action attorney fees, the scope of specific personal jurisdiction under Indiana law, and then take a deeper dive into the Seventh Circuit’s opinion affirming a bankruptcy court’s decision to pierce a corporate veil in order to attach a $7.5m judgment held by a former shareholder against the lone remaining shareholder.

This week we look at the remarkable decision in Hamilton v. Steak'n Shake Operations Inc., which took a deep dive into the analyses of Goodwin v. Yeakle's Sports Bar & Grill and Rogers v. Martin to conclude that a restaurant proprietor owes a duty to take reasonable precautions to protect a "restaurant patron who has been subjected to escalating threats and taunts" from "injury resulting after the encounter culminated in physical violence."